Teachers, others see hard work devalued

By Regina Hill

Published: Friday, August 2, 2013 at 07:11 PM.

I have served North Carolina as a public educator for 21 years and currently hold a master’s degree in education as well as administration certification (the equivalent of a second master’s degree), for which I worked extremely hard. I am a North Carolina Teaching Fellow and have worked hard to earn and recertify my National Board Certification. This recertification process, in fact, totaled over $1,500 which came from my own pocket last year.

Everything that I’ve done to advance myself professionally has been devalued. I am not a funding source but someone who genuinely cares about my students and their families. In fact, I have several colleagues who started work toward a master’s degree over a year ago, investing thousands of dollars in tuition and books. They’ve recently had to quit graduate school and will have to pay back loans because they have been informed that the new budget does not allow for recognition of master’s-level pay. Many states, to the contrary, require master’s degrees of their educators and take pride in encouraging professional growth.

I truly want to have faith that the governance of our state is legitimate and representative of the needs of its constituents. I’m becoming increasingly cynical, however, when I see the truth buried in semantics and legalese.

Please understand that I am not only speaking for the educators of this state. These words represent the hard-working public-sector workers, many of whom are grossly underpaid for their work, as well as state employees who continue to have uncertainty as to whether they will earn enough to support their families.

This is a quality of life issue as well as a call for political accountability. Let tax benefits fall to these individuals, pay them their worth, and give praise when it is due.

I am absolutely flabbergasted by the consistent cuts and forfeitures made to the most important entity to this state’s future — public schools.

I’ve called, e-mailed and written on behalf of our hard-working, loyal state employees — teachers in particular. I get the same disconnected response every time, which makes me wonder what happens when the legislative pen falls to paper. Increase work requirements, accountability standards and class size. Reduce medical benefits, take away vital supports for educators such as teacher assistants, increase workloads, cut budgets, then freeze embarrassingly low salaries for five years.

In fact, over five years ago, North Carolina was ranked 25th in the nation in teacher pay. Last year, our state was 46th. With no additional pay increase this year, North Carolina is now ranked 50th in teacher pay in the nation. The problem is not the increase in accountability standards but the provision of resources and opportunities to accomplish these goals.

According to a recent News and Observer report, Gov. Pat McCrory provided salary increases to his cabinet secretaries who currently maintain six figure salaries, some amounting to as much as $13,200 per year. This decision was defended as a way to secure qualified individuals and to maintain a level of pay commensurate with private sector opportunities. I would hope that his rationale would also apply to the rest of those working in the public sector.

Furthermore, the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program — a national model for teacher recruitment of the best and the brightest — has been eliminated. I am frightened about the future of North Carolina’s students and the message that this clearly sends to bright, high-achieving high school graduates when they are determining a professional course of study. Being an educator requires a series of extremely complex tasks and decisions. Spend a day with a teacher, just one day, and you will understand.

The state budget recently signed into law is a blatant injustice to educators who work endless hours and spend much personal time and money to make sure their students are taken care of academically. We need elected leaders who will protect public education.

I have served North Carolina as a public educator for 21 years and currently hold a master’s degree in education as well as administration certification (the equivalent of a second master’s degree), for which I worked extremely hard. I am a North Carolina Teaching Fellow and have worked hard to earn and recertify my National Board Certification. This recertification process, in fact, totaled over $1,500 which came from my own pocket last year.

Everything that I’ve done to advance myself professionally has been devalued. I am not a funding source but someone who genuinely cares about my students and their families. In fact, I have several colleagues who started work toward a master’s degree over a year ago, investing thousands of dollars in tuition and books. They’ve recently had to quit graduate school and will have to pay back loans because they have been informed that the new budget does not allow for recognition of master’s-level pay. Many states, to the contrary, require master’s degrees of their educators and take pride in encouraging professional growth.

I truly want to have faith that the governance of our state is legitimate and representative of the needs of its constituents. I’m becoming increasingly cynical, however, when I see the truth buried in semantics and legalese.

Please understand that I am not only speaking for the educators of this state. These words represent the hard-working public-sector workers, many of whom are grossly underpaid for their work, as well as state employees who continue to have uncertainty as to whether they will earn enough to support their families.

This is a quality of life issue as well as a call for political accountability. Let tax benefits fall to these individuals, pay them their worth, and give praise when it is due.